Vive Crop Protection uses nanoparticle encapsulation for efficient and environmentally friendly pesticide delivery. Synthetic pesticides are anticipated to face increasing regulatory hurdles, and we aim to future-proof our business by developing novel biopesticide products.  RNA-based biopesticides enable pest-specific targeting by shutting down critical genes found only in the pests’ genomes, making them harmless to other species, including humans. RNA is highly vulnerable to degradation, making intact delivery a central challenge. We need a biopesticide with: (req1) low production costs in line with agricultural price constraints; (req2) potential for IP protection; and (req3) compatibility with our existing products to enable a phased hybrid rollout. We will develop an RNAi pesticide delivery system using a novel twist on existing bacterial encapsulation technologies to offer double-layered RNA protection: the vulnerable molecules will be housed inside heat-inactivated bacteria, and further encapsulated into protective protein structures inside the cells. This enables inexpensive single-step bioproduction of large batches of bacteria without complex separation or post-processing steps (req1), employs a novel approach not under competing IP protection (req2), and offers a clear path to launching hybrid product lines (our existing Allosperse® products attached to the cells) to build familiarity and trust, setting up the later launch of pure biopesticide product lines (req3). The project will advance the technology from its current lab bench stage to an integrated system with quantitative results from crop and pest exposure tests.